the "Zagat" guide
I'm with Lauren. Superfluous quotation marks make me giggle. What's with "chocolate" cake. Is it allegedly chocolate? Imitation chocolate? Or -- worse yet -- carob?!
I got the Zagat Guide 2008 in the mail yesterday. Apparently, for whatever reason, I decided I needed one. Oh, well.
The "online version" isn't "bad," but the "print" version -- the "hard copy" -- was annoying to read. I understand that the quotes are from "reviewers." In my mind, I'm narrating the guide with "finger quotes" and the word allegedly (but said in a really funny voice) every time I read a fragmented quote. Who knows what these people really said, p.s.! The guide is at home. I'll include an entry tomorrow. Read it with "finger quotes" and be annoyed like I am!
Some of the quotes remind me of that "Friends" episode (quotation marks actually necessary there!) where Joey tries to figure out how to use finger quotes.
I should submit the entire guide to that blog that Lauren found.
Any other opinions on Zagat's "reviews"?
posted by Stepfanie at 5:44 PM
8 Comments:
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Kate The Great said...
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Post a Comment*I got my Zagat guide, too. I had submitted info on some reviews and was given a copy as a reward for my contribution... I was disappointed by the number of restaurants featured in the guide - I thought there were far better local restaruants omitted by Zagats...
I vaguely remember being bored one afternoon and submitting a review. It likely was for Riverside Korean or some sushi place.
Kate, you're exactly right. Zagat omitted SO many great places. (Though no doubt about it, the ones that WERE included are great, too.)
Hey got a question for all the foodies out there.
I am a first year culinary student at MCI and loving it.
Anyways my parents asked what I wanted for christmas. Are there any great reads with book that asipring chefs read.
I just got LAROUSSE GASTRONOMIQUE from a friend and I love it.
@anonymous: A few book recommendations to get you started:
1. THE ELEMENTS OF COOKING (Ruhlman)
2. HOW TO COOK ANYTHING (Bittman)
3. JACQUES PEPIN'S COMPLETE TECHNIQUES (Pepin)
4. THE FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION (Herbst)
5. THE MAKING OF A CHEF (Ruhlman) *optional*
6. LETTERS TO A YOUNG CHEF (Boulud) *optional*
The first four will help you with basic cooking (books 1, 2), terms (1, 2, 3, 4), techniques (1, 2, 3), and reference (1, 4). The optional books (5 & 6) give an appreciation of the world you're entering.
Start with techniques... Explore Pepin's book, which is almost entirely photographs, and work through some of the examples that are applicable to you.
Fabulous suggestions, V... Definitely good reads for the food-obsessed. Another interesting one is “In the Devil’s Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food” by Stewart Lee Allen. I love learning about how people relate to food. And I think that outstanding chefs understand those relationships and know how to cultivate and challenge them. I know there are some more must-reads... Let me think about what's on my bookshelf...
Ooh, thanks, everyone. I'm going to send along those suggestions to my parents. I'll add: Ruth Reichl's memoirs, Rebecca Well's Whole Food Encyclopedia, Jay Weinstein's "The Ethical Gourmet" and "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth"
Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires is my favorite piece of foodie lit... It's so funny, insightful and has some great recipes you'll want to photocopy for your collection...
I read "Garlic and Sapphires," then "Comfort Me with Apples," which is my favorite. Reichl's mother apparently was a horrible cook -- to the point that she sickened dozens of people at her brother's engagement party! It's hilarious. She also focuses on her life before the NYT, which is even more fascinating. She lived in a commune in San Francisco and didn't have a credit card until she took her first job as a critic. It's quite intimate and touching, with stories about an adopted daughter reclaimed by her birth parents, a life-changing trip to China and an affair with a colleague. (I hope all that is in that book. The two are starting to blur in my mind as I type this. Either way, her writing captivates me.)
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